


paper trails

by Aetherdrive



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Embedded Images, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4186908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aetherdrive/pseuds/Aetherdrive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pen pals don't have to be long distance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	paper trails

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pastel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastel/gifts).



> A pinch hit for HQhols summer exchange! <3

Yachi felt like time was suddenly going in agonizing, painful slow motion as a colorful slip of paper fell from her bag and was caught on a gust of wind.  
  
She reached forward, but it just barely slipped past her fingers and was carried towards the court where the Karasuno boys team was practicing. It seemed unfortunately inevitable that the paper was going to become absolutely crushed beyond recognition, and she could already feel the weight of sour disappointment and embarrassment curling in the pit of her stomach.  
  
But just as the paper landed on the ground, Yamaguchi’s foot stopped mere centimeters before he accidentally stepped on it. “Oh! What-- augh!”  
  
He was cut off as a volleyball smacked him in the arm. “Hey, pay attention,” Tsukishima grumbled.  
  
“Are you okay?!” Hinata squawked.  
  
“I’m fine! Sorry!” Yamaguchi laughed as he scooped up the paper. He peered at it with a curious look, while Yachi helplessly reached out to him with a whirlwind of hand motions while stuttering uncontrollably. “Oh... is this stationary yours, Yachi-san?”  
  
“Y-yes! Sorry! It fell out of my bag!!” She reached for it and shoved it haphazardly back into the backpack on her shoulder, her face bright red with embarrassment. _I hope he didn’t see it! Yamaguchi-kun doesn’t know I need to write letters to myself! What if everyone found out?! What kind of rumors would spread?! Maybe they’d think I don’t have any friends, or that I write letters to a secret crime syndicate, and they’d be suspicious of me forever--_  
  
But her anxiety was quashed when a warm, surprised smile spread over Yamaguchi’s face. “I have the same kind! It’s really cute, isn’t it?”  
  
“Y... you like stationary, Yamaguchi-kun?” she blurted. “I mean -- yes! I mean?!”  
  
Yamaguchi laughed again, and Yachi felt more of her anxiety melt away. “Yeah! I mean... I guess that’s a little surprising, huh? I’m not the kind of person you’d expect to collect stationary.” Around them, the sounds of shoes squeaking against the gymnasium floor rang through the air as practice continued. “I guess it’s just... really cute, you know? But I never get a chance to use any of it, even though I have so many different kinds.”  
  
“Me too!!” she gasped. “So I... uh... write letters and notes to myself,” she trailed off quietly.  
  
But instead of laughing, like she half-expected him to, Yamaguchi just looked curious. “Oh, is that what the stationary that fell out of your bag was?”  
  
She nodded, clearly embarrassed. “Yeah! Just, um, words of encouragement to myself. Is that weird?”  
  
“No, that’s cool. I mean, at least I think so,” he smiled. “Actually, I kind of wish I’d thought of doing that... I’ve been struggling with my confidence for a little while, and it’d be nice to put my own stationary to use too.”  
  
It was then that Yachi was struck with an idea.  
  
“What if we wrote to each other?” she blurted. “I mean! We could swap messages every so often, maybe? If that’s... not weird?”  
  
That warm smile was back as Yamaguchi’s face lit up. “It’s not weird! You wouldn’t mind swapping notes with me, Yachi-san?”  
  
“Not at all!” she insisted. “C-can we start soon? Maybe tomorrow?!”  
  
“That’d be great!” Yamaguchi grinned. “Oh, how should we swap them? At practice, or maybe at our shoe lockers...? Do you know where mine is?”  
  
Yachi nodded. “Okay! I mean, yes, and yes! We’ll figure it out! Do you... know where mine is?” Suddenly, she looked concerned. “And... what if people get the wrong idea, Yamaguchi-kun? Like if they think we’re... d-d.. _dating_...”  
  
He shrugged, and the smile on his face didn’t fade at all. “Let them think what they want. We shouldn’t let something like that stop us from having fun, right?”  
  
“Right!” she beamed. “Okay! T-thank you, Yamaguchi-kun!”  
  
He gave her a thumbs up, and ran back to the court to practice receives. And as she watched, she was already planning on what she’d write for her first note to her new pen pal.

* * *

Yachi tapped her favorite pen against her lips thoughtfully as she sat at her desk at home.  
  
 _What should I write for my first note to him?_ she thought. _He said he’s been struggling with his confidence lately... and he’s been practicing that serve a lot... maybe just some encouraging words! Yeah!!_  
  
She stuck her tongue out in deep concentration as she wrote, and a few moments later, she smiled triumphantly and punched the air with great enthusiasm. “Yay, perfect! I hope he likes it! Wow, I can’t believe I finally have a use for all this stationary.”  
  


  
Carefully, she folded the message and stuck it in an envelope, then sealed it with a tiny sticker before putting it in her bag.  
  
She hummed a happy tune to herself as she got ready for bed, already excited to exchange her first note with Yamaguchi.

* * *

“Hmm... Yachi-san might like something colorful,” Yamaguchi mumbled thoughtfully as he flipped through his box of stationary. “Oh! This should be okay.”  
  
He sat at his desk and took a deep breath as he stretched. _I probably shouldn’t overthink it,_ he told himself. _Okay! I’ll just write something really quick, then..._

  
  
He tried to make his handwriting a little neater than usual, and after a few moments, he was done. He re-read his work just to make sure it was okay, and smiled triumphantly as he folded the note and slipped it into a small envelope.

* * *

“Ah, good morning, Yachi-san!” Yamaguchi said with a smile and a wave. “Oh, here’s the note I wrote for you! I figured you could read it after morning practice.”  
  
Yachi opened her mouth to greet him, but stopped and let out a truly impressive yawn. “S-sorry, Yamaguchi-kun, I’m, uh... still not used to getting up quite so early, I guess... Oh! Thank you, though! H-here, I have yours too!!”  
  
They traded envelopes nervously, and slipped them into their bags. “I’ll read it after we finish practice,” Yamaguchi promised. “I think Daichi-san might get mad if I don’t hurry up... thanks again, Yachi-san!”  
  
“Oh! Of course! Um, thank you too!!” she said with a salute. “Good luck!!”  
  
The gymnasium steadily grew noisier as morning practice quickly picked up, and Yachi took a seat on the sidelines. Unable to resist her curiosity, she peeked up at the court to make sure Yamaguchi’s attention was elsewhere, and then plucked the note he’d given her from her bag.  
  
She’d meant to be stealthy, but as she read each word, she found it was impossible to contain the smile that bloomed on her face. Inspired and energized, she quickly put it back in the envelope and in the depths of her bag -- and then drew out a new piece of stationary and a pen to write a new note to Yamaguchi, confident that her new friendship with the volleyball player was going to be a highlight of her high school career.

* * *

Not only did the notes become a daily occurrence, but Yamaguchi and Yachi found themselves trading them several times a day.  
  
Before and after practice, sometimes they’d call out to the other to show them some new stationary they’d found, and then immediately use it to write an encouraging, happy letter to the other. Sometimes, the notes would be be about upcoming tests, or practice matches, or actual games -- the subjects they talked about were endless.

  
  
Their fast growing friendship didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of Karasuno’s volleyball club. More than once, Kiyoko would catch Yachi smiling at a note from Yamaguchi, and a quiet smile would light up her face in turn. Suga encouraged Yamaguchi to keep writing, and Tsukishima didn’t say much, aside from commenting that Yamaguchi’s handwriting wasn’t as awful as it had been before he’d started the daily exchange.  
  
It never came up, but it was a sort of unspoken understanding that neither of them would ever throw away the notes that they received. Their collection grew and grew, boxes of correspondence on colorful paper, carefully organized by the date they’d received them.  
  
Through good and bad, they were there for each other, the unlikely friends that nobody had ever expected to stick together, let alone over a love of stationary. When they needed it most, and even when they didn’t need it at all, encouragement and kind words were always just a few hours away, a boost written by a friendly hand on cute and colorful paper.  
  


  
  
As the weeks and months bled into new seasons and years, the notes never stopped -- and their friendship never faded, documented by a colorful paper trail lovingly made by hand.

 

 


End file.
